Tom Paris
Thomas Eugene Paris is a human Starfleet officer who returned home from the Delta Quadrant in 2378 after serving for seven years as the flight controller of the starship ''Voyager''. Family and Academy Years As the son of a senior Starfleet official, Admiral Owen Paris, Tom Paris often felt inadequate due to the pressure his father put on him to excel in Starfleet. (VOY: "Persistence of Vision") At the Academy, in the 2360s, Admiral Paris was the instructor of his course on Survival Strategies. Admiral Paris did not play favorites with his son as his student, giving Tom Paris a "B-minus", overall, in the course. (VOY: "Parturition") He was very interested in the Mars missions and knew all its projects from the 1970s on. One of his ancestors was a pilot who flew the first orbital glider over the lower martian plateau. (VOY: "11:59") Starfleet Career Upon graduation Paris was assigned to the [[USS Exeter|USS Exeter]]. Later, he was dismissed from Starfleet when he tried to cover up a piloting error on his behalf which led to the deaths of three fellow officers at Caldik Prime. (VOY: "Non Sequitur") Incarceration After being expelled from Starfleet he joined the Maquis but was captured on his first mission. Paris was serving time in a Federation Penal Settlement near Auckland, New Zealand when he recieved a visit from Captain Kathryn Janeway. She gave him the option to better himself by participating on a mission to track down the Maquis who where hiding in the Badlands. After a short hesitation, he agreed. USS Voyager When the [[USS Voyager|USS Voyager]] found itself in the Delta Quadrant, he was promoted to flight controller, with his Starfleet rank of Lieutenant junior grade reinstated. He was granted the additional job as a medic for The Doctor when an assessment for medical replacements was brought forth. (VOY: "Caretaker", "Parallax") In an alternate timeline, For his first official away mission, Tom Paris joined Kathryn Janeway, B'Elanna Torres, and Tuvok on a planet devistated by the detonation of a polaric ion device. Due to a Subspace fracture, he and Janeway were pulled back in time prior to the detonation. They were taken hostage by protestors protesting against the use of Polaric energy. When being escorted to a Polaric power plant, along with a boy named Latika, Janeway told a guard that she and Paris were hostages. One of the protestors went to shoot at Latika, but Paris took the bullet. ''(VOY: "Time and Again") While on a mission to Banea to repair a damaged collimator, Tom Paris was convicted of murdering Tolen Ren. The images of Ren's last moments up to his death were implanted into Paris' brain which caused neural damage. Many efforts led by Tuvok gave him enough proof that Paris was innocent. At a hearing on Banea, Tuvok was able to present proof that Tom Paris was being used as a messenger for the Numiri. The images implanted in his mind included information from Ren's weapons research. The images were removed from his mind and he was free to leave. (VOY: "Ex Post Facto") He soon became close friends with Ensign Harry Kim. Paris was the first Starfleet officer to reach Warp 10. (VOY: "Threshold") Tom Paris was demoted to ensign in 2375 for disobeying orders, but by the end of 2376 had earned back his rank of Lieutenant junior grade. The following year, he would marry B'Elanna Torres. (VOY: "Thirty Days," "Unimatrix Zero, Part I," "Drive") After reaching Earth, his first child was born, a daughter named Miral. (VOY: "Endgame") ''In an alternate timeline, in which it took ''Voyager 16 more years to return to Earth, Paris retired from Starfleet and became a holonovelist. (VOY: "Endgame") ''In another alternate timeline, in which ''Voyager crashed on an L class world in the Alpha Quadrant after an accident with an experimental Quantum slipstream drive, Paris died.'' (VOY: "Timeless") Hobbies Tom Paris has a variety of interests, but many of them focus on 20th century North American culture, specifically the latter half of the century. Old sci fi "b-movies", pulp sci fi, "muscle cars" and automobiles in general, and similar pursuits. He is fond of what is known as "junk food", such as hot dogs, popcorn, and pizza. He also has a slightly less pronounced interest in the 19th century. He is interested in 19th century sailing vessels. He also seems to have some interest in Irish culture, as evidenced by his creation of Fair Haven on the holodeck. He is fond of playing practical jokes, particularly on Tuvok. Among his jokes, he has reprogrammed a Vulcan monastery on the holodeck that Tuvok uses in a variety of ways (including dressing one of the central figures in sleepwear, and changing the chants to Ferengi chants about profit.) and reprogram all the systems Tuvok interacts with to say "live long and prosper", whenever he interacted with them. Personal relationships Harry Kim Kathryn Janeway Neelix Apocrypha In the Voyager relaunch book series, Paris moved to Boreth with his wife and daughter. He later re-joined the crew of the USS Voyager, as its First Officer, under the command of Captain Chakotay. Background information From the Voyager pilot "Caretaker" on, Paris and Harry Kim were the best of friends. This was an attempt to capitalize on the chemistry that existed between best friends Julian Bashir and Miles O'Brien on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Paris was largely based on the character of Nicholas Locarno from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The First Duty," who was also played by Robert Duncan McNeill. When the writers were trying to cast for the part, they couldn't find anyone that seemed to match McNeill's persona, so they eventually just asked him to read for the role, and he got the part. Reasons for not simply bringing back the Locarno character have varied. It may have been because they would have had to pay royalties to the writers of "The First Duty" every episode; though in interviews, the producers of Voyager have said they felt Locarno's actions in that episode made him irredeemable. Later, a photo of McNeill as Locarno was used as a photo of young Tom Paris on Admiral Owen Paris's desk in the episode "Pathfinder".'' Paris, Tom Paris, Tom Paris, Tom Paris, Tom de:Tom Paris fr:Tom Paris